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3 Words for Seniors

June 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Aaron Crumbey, or AC as we know him is on the High School Ministry team at Saddleback church. He has a blog called, yoacblog.com  If you don’t read it you should be. Today he had an awesome post of what three words he would give to his graduating high school seniors. I love this! Check out a tease of this post below and then head here to read the rest.

Thinking about the seniors who are graduating and are heading off to college…  If I could only say three words to them I would say “Eat More Chicken” hahaha just kidding…”DO NOT COMPROMISE”!!!!

I remember when I was having my first child and I wanted to be that dad who could show people the baby’s room and with a proud smile I could say, “I did it myself”.  So I had new carpet laid. I went out and bought the paint and baby furniture.  You would’ve thought I was shooting a Home Depot instructional video the way things were turning out.

It was time to put the dresser/changing table together.  The dresser/changing table came in a million pieces and a phonebook size instructional manual.  So like any other man who values his dignity, I tossed the manual and started to use good old common sense and the picture on the box.  Well, needless to say after about three hours of work and being halfway through, I noticed that it swayed back and forth but I thought it would be fixed as I continued. I came down to my last few pieces and my wife walks in and was impressed with my progress, until she touched the dresser and it swayed back and forth.  In which I was given the look of “you are a fool if you think I’m going to allow my baby to be changed on this death trap.”

I had compromised the process which resulted into me building something that was completely unstable and unusable.  I had lost the little faith my wife had in me to begin with because I decided my way was better than the creator’s way.  I had created more work for myself because I had to take it apart just to put it back together again using the manual (a slice of humble pie..please!!). All because I thought my way was better than the creator’s way.  I compromised and as a result I lost trust, time, energy, effort, time, time and time.

 

 

Filed Under: For Students, Repost, Youth Ministry Tagged With: ,

Gearing up for Summer

June 3, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Matt: Summer is just around the corner and for most student ministries that means a break in small groups. Summer means vacations for a lot of families so it’s easy to lose the momentum you have built in your group. Today we want to talk about ways to either keep your group going during the summer or to keep them in contact with you and each other.

  • My group is going to keep meeting through the summer. We might not every single week but I want to keep this group together and keep the bond going between these guys.
  • Keep your lessons light and something that if a student misses a couple weeks he won’t come back and feel lost and like he has no idea what you’re talking about.
  • If your group isn’t meeting, keep in contact weekly with them either by text or phone calls. Have lunch with them, plan outings for the group. Make sure they know that you’re there if they need something or just need to talk.
  • Don’t forget about parents over the summer. Keep your parent ministry going as well with e-mails about summer camp or other major events your student ministry will be holding over the summer.

Steven: Summer is a time that can be really helpful for building relationships. Typically in our ministry setting, small groups take the summer off for leaders to recharge and get ready for a new year starting in the fall. Just because you take a summer off doesn’t mean ministry has to stop!

  • Like Matt, my group will be meeting over summer. When we meet over summer we do 2 things differently: focus primarily on building relationships and keeping group lighter. We won’t get into heavy Bible lessons or super convicting discussions. Instead, we want to do more fun stuff like going to the beach or hanging out to see a movie.
  • Take time to do things you can’t do during the school year. I have a few students that have asked over and over to go to Disneyland, but we haven’t been able to because of school and work. Over summer, we have a lot more days to do something out of the ordinary like that.
  • Build yourself as a leader. Since I’m not under the same school pressures and I don’t have to prepare a full-fledged lesson every week, I’m spending time reading resources and doing self-training so I’m ready to go when the new school year rolls around.
Filed Under: Small Groups, Youth Ministry Tagged With: , ,

Pushing Students Over The Edge

May 30, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Cliff_edge_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1426716Ever get that feeling with your student small group that some of them are right on the edge of becoming serious followers of Jesus? The past two weeks I have had a couple of them make comments to me that I didn’t expect from them. During our small group time they are more engaged and involved than ever.

Where do you go from here? How do you “push them over the edge”? With some students they might need to be shoved over the edge but with others, just a gentle nudge is all it will take. This is one of my most exciting parts of student ministry. You can see a difference in their comments, how they worship during services, they actually start having a quiet time each day.  They get the whole concept that Jesus is about a relationship with Him and not about religion. Love it and love to see the change that takes place. It’s almost like watching a caterpillar turn into a butterfly.

Now the challenge is what you do with that student next. This is where I start helping them grow deeper and deeper in their faith and the best way I have found is to challenge them. Give them Bible reading, ask them to teach your small group one night. Use them to help others in the group grow in their faith as well. I also text them and continually encourage them.

Serve projects or serving in a ministry are a huge way to help students grow deeper in their faith. I’m already looking for projects over the summer with my guys so that I can keep them fully engaged and connected with each other.

Seeing this take place shows us the small role we play in getting our students committed to Christ and a reminder that if you make yourself available, God WILL use you for His glory!

 

Filed Under: Cool stuff, Youth Ministry

More Social Media Tips

May 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment

FacebookSocial media is an awesome thing and it’s a great way to connect with students, but it also has its downfall as well. It can be a  gigantic time-waster and it can take you away from the face-to-face conversation you’re having with someone. And like anything else, something really good can be used by people for some really bad things. Following up on yesterday’s post I wanted to blog today about more tips about social media.

  • When you’re having a one-on-one conversation or lunch with a student, don’t take your phone out and start thumbing through Facebook or Instagram or Twitter. It’s like telling the person you’re with at the time, “Sorry, I have something more important than you right now.”
  • By the same token, during small group time or time together with my small group guys I’ll ask them to put their phones or iPads away for now. I want them to be in the conversation with the group, not looking to see the latest Instagram picture of a plate of food that one of their friends posted.
  • Teens should only talk to and “friend” people they know. I had a student in a small group that thought he had “friended” a teenage girl, only to find out it was a fake profile.
  • Parents, check the messages your teens get. If you don’t have your kid’s password, at random times ask them to show you their messages or their Facebook page. It’s easy for them to “hide” certain contacts or posts where you can’t see them unless you’re logged in to their profile.
  • If I’m going to post pictures of my small group guys, I show them the picture first. Remember with teenagers image is a big deal. If they don’t like how they look in a picture or their facial expression etc. I’ll take another picture. Maybe to some teens this is no big deal but to others it’s a HUGE deal.

urlI let parents know my social media pages and I “friend” them so they can see me and my life and what I post. I don’t post any political stuff or anything that I think might offend someone. It’s not worth it to me to post something that might get a laugh from some, but have others lose faith in me or in God because of something I post. Remember, perception is reality and as leaders we need to hold ourselves to a higher standard.

Filed Under: Culture, Youth Ministry Tagged With: , , ,

Using Social Media to Connect with Students

May 27, 2013 by Leave a Comment

There are so many ways to use social media to get your message out or grow your ministry. Today we’re highlighting some ways that you can use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and tons of other social media to your advantage.

Matt:  

  • I set up a private Facebook page for my high school small group. It’s a great way to get information out to them and to share prayer requests.  Since it’s private, no one outside our group can see it.
  • Each week I try to post something about our small group time and I try to share a photo. It’s a great way for me to acknowledge the guys in my group  and to share with other leaders in high school ministry what’s going on in our group. It’s always a way parents can see what’s going on in the group.
  • I don’t tweet very much but when I do I like for it to be something thought-provoking. Something that will be a conversation starter with either my student small group or my own adult small group. We also have a Twitter page for this blog, it’s a good way to get people to view our page.

Steven: Social media strategies look a little different for junior highers than it does for high schoolers… Here’s how I use social media to reach my students:

  • In the JH world, Instagram is your friend. Because Facebook’s official minimum age is 13, a lot of JH students aren’t there yet. Instagram is huge in their world. A majority of my Life Group guys use it, so I take a bunch of pictures when we do stuff together and post stuff with them tagged. That gives them a sense of ownership and belonging.
  • This isn’t necessarily a way to get connected to students through social media, but we’ve tried to inform parents the best we can about what the different social media platforms are. We want our parents to be as informed as possible so they can guide their kids.
  • The other big one for JH seems to be Kik. It’s not as popular as some of the others, but a few of my students use it to get around text restrictions. It’s a free messaging app for smartphones that acts basically like texting/picture messaging. Not sure why it’s so popular, but because it is I know we need to have a presence there.
Filed Under: Culture, Youth Ministry

The Boys are Back in Town

May 23, 2013 by Leave a Comment

On Tuesday night, I did something I had never done before at my small group. Rather than my co-leader and me talking to the guys, we brought in 3 guys from our old small group to talk to them.

Returning small group guysA huge thing we’ve been trying to get across to our group is the idea of “the more you put into group, the more you’ll get out of group.” We can preach this all day long, but we can only tell the guys stories of past experiences. We thought what better way to get this idea across than to bring in 3 guys who have lived this out.

The cool part about the 3 we brought in was that they were the 3 who probably grew the most over the course of our last small group, but they all made a commitment to go all-in for God and small group at different times. One made that choice in the very beginning, one about halfway through and the other toward the end. Because they all had differing viewpoints, it was cool to see them talk about the decisions they made and how it impacted them in the long run.

The returning guys made a significant impact on our group. I had conversations right after group with some of my guys that were a direct result of what they talked about. Even cooler: it made me one proud small group leader to see our returning guys living out and talking about things we talked about when they were in my group before.

Filed Under: Cool stuff, Youth Ministry

Students are Getting Busier

May 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment

We all have busy lives. We have to juggle work, school, families, social lives, everything. We try to keep all the plates spinning, which sometimes leaves us with little to no free time. Students know this too, and they feel it like no other generation before them. Just last night I was talking to a student who has school every day, homework every night, churchy stuff a few times a week and sports (2 different teams). That’s insane! I can’t remember anyone being that busy when I was younger, but this seems to be the norm with our students these days.

I’ve noticed this among the students in my Life Group, who all seem to be involved in at least one sport (often more). As a result, they’re left with very little free time. They’re harder to communicate with, they have less time to meet at Starbucks or Taco Bell and they sometimes feel overwhelmed by it all.

I don’t know all the implications of this, but the biggest thing seems to be a lack of free time. It’s easier for a student to play off the “church stuff” for something “more important.” It’s also harder for us to get them to part with their precious free time to spend it with God or by serving others. The challenge I’ve seen this year is getting them to use their time to communicate with their leaders. There’s always something they can be doing, and our job is to help them realize where their time needs to be prioritized.

Filed Under: Culture, Youth Ministry

Stop and Get Lost

May 20, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Steven: At the end of a busy season of life, like right now at the end of a semester of classes, I need to completely get my mind out of school mode. That looks different for me every time, but it consistently includes 2 things: video games and Disneyland. Those are both things that, when I’m doing them, my mind can get completely lost in them and I don’t think about school at all. When I go home at night after a busy day of school stuff, I can turn on FIFA 13, play a few games, and I don’t think about the craziness of the past semester at all in that moment.

We need the same time after a busy season of ministry. Whether it’s summer, a season of small group or a rough time with a particular student, we need to take time not not only rest, but reset our brains. We need those times to recharge and reset after a particularly busy time, that way we’re ready to go for the next crazy season. We all need to find our FIFA 13 and be willing to go there, rather than going full throttle all year long.

Matt: I saw a car commercial the other night for the Nissan Leaf. it’s not a hybrid car, it’s a total electric car. There is a scene of the car in the garage with the owner plugging it in. It made me think, sometimes to recharge your batteries you need to just stop and plug in and do nothing. Well nothing of substance that is. For me one of my escapes is to cook. I love everything about cooking. The planning of a menu, the shopping, the prep work and then the actually cooking. Although to some it might seem like work, to me it’s relaxing and a way that I de-stress. It’s a way for me to totally lose myself and forgot a busy season or a problem I’ve just been through.

Finding time to stop and do something you can get lost in and forget about what’s going on around you might look different to each of us but it should have the same result. The result being when I’ve finished my batteries are recharged, I’m mentally ready to move on and charge the next hill and my energy level has been restored. This is especially true for me in student ministry, it keeps me from burning out, it keeps me focused and it makes me ready for the next challenge.

Filed Under: Spriritual Life, Youth Ministry

Moving On to College

May 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment

The end of the school year means a time of transition for eight grade students to high school and a time for high school seniors to move on to college. This transition time has been a concern of mine for a couple of years now. I don’t think we do enough on the hand off, especially in high school ministry. We need to move the goal post back a few yards and realize that just because high school is over we’re not done with these students. We need to help them transition to college ministry or often times with students who move away to college, we need to help them find a new church to attend. I just read a great blog by Kurt Johnston and Josh Griffin on this subject and they bring up some great points. This is a must read article. Click here for their thoughts.

One of the problems we have is getting students to move on from a ministry they love, especially your “core” kids. The ones that are at every service and event you have. I think they have a big problem making the move for several reasons. First off they are going from a ministry where everyone knows them to one where they are unknown.  They go from being the big fish in the small pond to being the small fish in the big pond. They are stepping out of their comfort zone. If you have a student who hates change more than the Amish this is really a problem.

We need to get students plugged into college ministry programs before they get out of high school. If your student small group is composed of all seniors, get them signed up as a college small group so they can get to know the small group leaders for college ministry and the college ministry leaders can get to know them.

We need to get college ministry leaders to attend summer camps and begin building relationships with outgoing high school seniors. I almost think we need a separate summer camp just for this!

If you have students moving out of the area to go to school, help them find a church close to their college. Don’t wait for them to leave and do it on their own, chances are unless they are really strong in their walk with God they won’t follow through. Spend some time helping them research the area and the churches there so you can find one that closely follows your beliefs. If you know of previous students in that area, connect the students together so they can know someone there before they move away.

Follow up! Keep in contact, make sure they know you’re there to help and advise them and pray like crazy for them.

Filed Under: Spriritual Life, Youth Ministry Tagged With: , , , ,

Finish The School Year Strong

May 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment

We’re coming up to the end of the school year and it’s tempting for students to want to slow down, to just finish the school year and be done. I think this applies to junior high and high school students and college students as well. There is a temptation as a small group leader to just coast your group to the finish line. So much is at stake here and I could list out about a million reasons why you don’t want to do that but the most important one is the message we are sending to students. The message that gets sent is this: I’m strong in my faith but there are times its okay to just slow down and take my faith for granted.

I want to finish the school year strong. I want to know that students in my group are making some major steps in their spiritual life and that they are continuing to grow. I don’t want them to think its okay to build this great relationship with Jesus during the school year and then during the summer I just kind of put Jesus in the background and I’ll get back to him in September. If you have eight graders about to make the transition to high school or high school seniors about to head off to college you really need to make sure you’re doing everything you can to transition them off to the next stage of their life. I’m going to blog more about that later this week but for today I wanted to list some things to help your students finish the school year:

  • Consider meeting over the summer. Traditionally student small groups stop meeting during the summer. People go on vacation, and there are a lot of distractions but I still meet during the summer. I know that not every student will be there each week but at least they have an option.
  • Keep in contact with them over the summer. Text them, have lunch with them; do a movie day or a beach day.
  • If you have students who are struggling in a particular area keep holding them accountable and make sure they are keeping in contact with their accountability partners. Keep encouraging them over the summer.
  • If your church has a summer camp, encourage your students to go. I can’t say enough about camp. This will be my fifth year as a camp leader and I’ve seen so many students have a life changing experience at camp. 
Filed Under: Small Groups, Youth Ministry Tagged With: ,
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